


ink

by cominginside



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-29
Updated: 2012-03-29
Packaged: 2017-11-02 16:04:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cominginside/pseuds/cominginside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a newlywed comes with some challenges.</p>
            </blockquote>





	ink

**Author's Note:**

> From a drabble challenge, for the prompt "ink".

Gabe doesn't fight much. He can do it, but he'd rather use his hands for scoring goals than throwing punches. In fact, he hasn't fought in over a year, but when Kaleta takes a run at Matty and leaves him crumpled on the ice, Gabe's the only one around who can even remotely think about standing up to the guy, so he does.

It's not a good fight. It's a mess of a fight, actually. Gabe gets a couple of swings in, Kaleta hits him in the face but loses his balance, and then Gabe manages to smack him across the jaw and promptly winces as his wedding ring cuts sharply into his finger. Kaleta takes advantage of his momentary distraction and throws him to the ice, at which point the refs jump in and save Gabe from any more embarrassment.

He spends the penalty sitting with an ice pack on his hand and hoping that none of the guys who'd warned him about rings and hockey notice the swollen finger with the gold band too tight around it. Kaleta tries to chirp him through the layers of plexiglass, but Gabe doesn't give a shit; Matty's on the bench, apparently none the worse for the wear, and Gabe had pretty much held his own right up until he'd hurt himself.

After the game ends--a win, at least--and Gabe's showered and done his media stuff, he drops another ice pack on his hand and tries to get dressed without moving his finger at all. The trainer comes by and bends it a bit, making Gabe hiss with pain, then tells him it's not broken, just badly bruised. Gabe's willing to be grateful for small miracles, even if the trainer gives him a flat look and tells him that fighting with a ring on is just asking for injuries. Gabe works it off, wincing the entire time, and decides he'll need to buy a chain for it to avoid going through this again.

It's strange how guilty he feels calling Ryan that night and letting him know that he can't wear the ring during games. They've only been married a few months at this point, and they can't exactly parade it around, so the rings hold a lot of meaning for Gabe. Ryan's understanding, though; he always is. It's one of the things Gabe loves about him.

The ring sits warm against his chest during the next game, and the one after that, and then he takes a shoulder right to it and finds a bruise in the shape of the chain right in the middle of his sternum. More than that, the chain's warped, and Gabe worries about losing the ring during the game or in the lockerroom afterwards. He pulls it off the chain and puts it on his finger, as he always does as soon as he's out of his gear, and then sits staring at it while he tries to figure out how to do this.

He looks up, startled, when O'Brien drops down onto the bench next to him. The defenseman points at Gabe's hand. "Still giving you problems?" he asks.

Gabe nods and twists the ring around. "I can't wear it on my finger and I can't wear it around my neck," he says. "But I don't like having it off."

"Get a tattoo," Shane says. Gabe blinks at him, trying to follow his logic, and Shane sighs. "On your ring finger. You kids are for eternity and all that, so--get a wedding ring tattoo. Some of the guys do that if they can't do the ring thing."

And that's how Gabe and Ryan end up in a little tattoo boutique next time they're in the same city. Ryan looks worried, in a very stoic Ryan way, and Gabe squeezes his hand until Ryan gives him a little smile. Gabe's actually kind of excited--the whole idea of a wedding ring under his skin forever is pretty awesome. It's definitely better symbolism than a piece of metal that can be removed or lost.

The designs are simple, but meaningful; Gabe can't wait until the tattoos are clean and visible, so he can look at it every day. Ryan gives him a fond look when he says that, eyes going soft and mouth quirking up in the corners, and Gabe leans in to kiss him, even though the tattoo artist is right there. She's already tattooed rings onto their fingers, after all. It's not like they could be much more obvious.

When they sleep that night, Gabe wraps himself around Ryan, his chest pressed along Ryan's back, and slides his fingers between Ryan's. There's gauze there now, on both of them, but he can picture the rings under that, marking them as belonging to each other for eternity.


End file.
